POOL
Los Angeles - 9 June 2017
1. Wide, courtroom
2. Close, Samantha Geimer
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Harland Braun, attorny for Roman Polanski: "And the victim who is present in court who has for at least a decade indicated that she wants the case over, that she has basically forgiven Mr. Polanski, as much as anyone can. Mr. Polanski has accepted moral responsibility and legal responsibility."
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Samantha Geimer, sexual assault vicitim: "I stand before you no longer afraid and with hope that you will consider my plea for justice and relief. Without dismissing Mr. Polanski's shared responsibility for the 40-year ordeal that Judge Rittenband and the district attorney's office have forced upon me, I would implore you to consider taking action which can finally bring this matter to a close as an act of mercy to myself and my family."
++BLACK BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Samantha Geimer, sexual assault vicitim: "First I would like you to, I would like to ask you to consider sentencing Mr. Polanski to time served in absentia."
++BLACK BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Samantha Geimer, sexual assault vicitim: "At the very least you could recall the international warrant which has been denied by the respective courts of Switzerland and Poland in part because the request contained false and misleading information."
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6. SOUNDBITE (English) Samantha Geimer, sexual assault vicitim: "Last consider a dismissal of the case in light of the facts which are known at this time as a way to expedite a conclusion to a 40-year sentence which has been imposed on the victim of a crime as well as a perpetrator. My mother and grandmother, my father, my stepfather, my husband, my three sons have endured terror that has faded to fear, panic that has faded to anxiety, never knowing when or where they may be forced to face as unfairly unending case. I know Roman's family has suffered as well. We are human beings, not wins and losses. I now have become a grandmother. I implore you to consider that now a fifth generation of my family may be unfairly burdened and resolve this matter without the spectacle of arresting and incarcerating a 83- year-old defendant for the benefit of the egos involved in this case. I do not want to have to explain to my grandaaughter why she can't go outside or answer the phone or why there are camera crews outside my home and eventually what happened to her nana in 1977."
7. Medium, Samantha Geimer walks back to seat in courtroom
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Scott Gordon, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge: "You are, your courage as a survivor is noted and I thank you for that."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Los Angeles - 9 June 2017
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Harland Braun, attorney for Roman Polanski: "I am not defending his (Polanski) conduct. I'm trying to straighten out a dishonest system."
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Harland Braun, attorney for Roman Polanski: "If it got dismissed it would either be one of two reasons. One, it should be dismissed on the merits or the judge was very smart and realized he could put an end to an entire scandal by getting rid of this case, so one of the two, but I'd be happy with either result."
11. Wide, Harland Braun shakes hands with man outside courtroom
POLANSKI'S VICTIM ASKS JUDGE TO END CASE AGAINST DIRECTOR
Roman Polanski's sexual assault victim asked a judge Friday (09 JUNE 2017) to end the 40-year-old case against the fugitive director, but there was no indication her plea would bring an end to the lengthy court saga.
Samantha Geimer told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon that she wanted the case to end, either with an outright dismissal or by the judge sentencing Polanski without him being present. Polanski's repeated requests for the same rulings have been denied.
Gordon said he would take Geimer's comments into consideration and did not issue an immediate ruling.
Geimer described herself as more of a victim of the criminal justice system than of Polanski.
Geimer said before she addressed the court that she was terrified, but felt compelled to tell Gordon her thoughts on the case.
"Consider a dismissal of the case in light of the facts which are known at this time as a way to expedite a conclusion to a 40-year sentence which has been imposed on the victim of a crime as well as a perpetrator," Geimer suggested to the judge.
Geimer, 54, has long supported Polanski's efforts to end the legal saga that limits his freedom, but Friday was the first time she's appeared in court on his behalf, Polanski's attorney Harland Braun said.
"My mother and grandmother, my father, my stepfather, my husband, my three sons have endured terror that has faded to fear, panic that has faded to anxiety, never knowing when or where they may be forced to face as unfairly unending case. I know Roman's family has suffered as well. We are human beings, not wins and losses. I now have become a grandmother. I implore you to consider that now a fifth generation of my family may be unfairly burdened and resolve this matter without the spectacle of arresting and incarcerating a 83- year-old defendant for the benefit of the egos involved in this case. I do not want to have to explain to my grandaaughter why she can't go outside or answer the phone or why there are camera crews outside my home and eventually what happened to her nana in 1977," said Geimer.
The Oscar-winning director has been a fugitive since he fled to France in 1978 on the eve of sentencing for having unlawful sex with a minor. Prosecutors dropped charges that he drugged, raped and sodomized Geimer when she was 13 years old.
Polanski feared the judge was going to renege on a plea agreement and send him away for more time than the six weeks he served in prison during a psychiatric evaluation prior to sentencing.
His lawyers have been fighting for years to end the case and lift an international arrest warrant that confined him to his native France, Switzerland and Poland, where he fled the Holocaust.
The warrant prevented Polanski from collecting his Academy Award for best director for his 2002 film "The Pianist." He was also nominated for 1974's "Chinatown" and 1979's "Tess."
Polanski, 83, is trying to get the Interpol warrant lifted so he can move freely among most of the 190 countries in the global policing network. If that happened, the California warrant would remain valid.
Polanski contends he is the victim of judicial misconduct because the now-deceased judge who handled the case suggested in private remarks that he would not honor a plea agreement. It called for no more time behind bars for the director after he spent 42 days in a prison undergoing a diagnostic screening.
The hearing Friday was part of an effort by Braun to get the court to unseal testimony by the now-retired prosecutor in the case, who is believed to have testified in a closed session about backroom sentencing discussions.
Braun wants to use the transcript to show Polanski has served his time so the international warrant is dropped. Braun also argues that Polanski served an additional 10 months under house arrest during a failed extradition effort from Switzerland in 2010.
Deputy District Attorney Michele Hanisee urged the court in a Thursday filing to reject Polanski's latest efforts, saying two previous judges and an appeals court have ruled against him.
"The people implore this court to deny defendant's motions and to summarily deny any future request to re-litigate these issues absent a showing of new facts or a change in circumstance," Hanisee wrote.
Judge Scott Gordon has rejected Polanski's efforts to resolve the case in the director's absence or with a promise that he wouldn't be sentenced to more time or be arrested if he voluntarily returned for a sentencing hearing.
Geimer has previously said she forgives Polanski for the assault that happened at Jack Nicholson's compound in the Hollywood Hills during a March 1977 photo shoot.
Polanski plied the girl with champagne and part of a sedative pill before raping her, according to grand jury transcripts. Nicholson was not home at the time.
Geimer sued Polanski and reached a settlement in 1993 for $500,000 that included over $100,000 in interest payments. Her longtime lawyer Lawrence Silver did not return phone and email messages seeking comment.
The Associated Press doesn't typically name victims of sex abuse, but Geimer went public years ago.
She wrote a memoir titled "The Girl: A Life in the Shadow of Roman Polanski" four years ago. The cover features a photo shot by Polanski.
